Spring and Autumn
by Umbraphage
Summary: With the demise of Lord Voldemort, the Wizarding World is left in shambles for the youngest generation to pick up and put back together. Things are tense between the dark and the light as dark families are persecuted by the rest of society. When a muggleborn Yankee is sorted into Slytherin four years after the final Battle, no one expects what will come with her. From 2002-2018.
1. Year 1: Magic

**Hello! I hope you enjoy this chapter. Though this isn't the first time I've written OC-centric fanfics, I'm hoping that I'm doing this justice in the HP fandom. Any feedback would be very much appreciated (and I try to respond as soon as possible)! I would like to hear what you think, and if there are any improvements you recommend.**

 **Just to put this out there: For the majority of this story, there isn't much involvement at all with the original cast. There will be no Mary Sues (like any other reader, I hate reading fanfics with them). There will be no romance between OCs and any of JK Rowling's characters. If there is romance, it isn't coming until 6th year and it will not dominate the story. This story will progress as a documentation of Reina's rise to power from 2002 to 2018 (I'm thinking longer, but I'm still getting the plot in order).**

 **EDIT: I removed the prologue because it seemed a bit incongruous.**

* * *

 _July 20th, 2002_

 _Los Angeles, California_

When the letter came in with their weekly post to their quiet abode on a hot Californian summer day, the Mao family was not sure what to expect.

The only child, a 10 year old named Reina, sat quietly at the dining table as her parents studied the official-looking letter intensely. Her mother, a short woman with permed black hair, squinted at the text on the letter through old-fashioned spectacles and sounded out carefully in her thick Taiwanese accent, "Ilvermorny…" Mrs. Mao looked to Reina's father and spoke in their native language, " _What school is this? Why have I never heard of it?_ "

" _I don't know_." Mr. Mao spoke, taking the letter from his wife's manicured hands to examine it himself. " _It looks professional. Look at the quality of this paper. Must be a very rich school. After what happened last year, America's economy is down and almost no one can afford this._ "

Both parents looked to Reina expectantly. " _Translate for us, daughter._ "

" _Yes._ " Reina quietly nodded, taking the letter that her parents slid to her. She read it silently to the herself first, but immediately set it back down on table with a rather unimpressed expression. " _It's a joke._ "

"Hah?" Her mother stared incredulously at Reina. " _How can this be a joke? This letter looks expensive_."

Her father nodded in agreement, speaking in English. "Too expensive to be a joke."

Reina replied, " _It says that Ilvermorny is a school for magical students. Magic doesn't exist._ "

" _Are you sure?_ " Her father took the letter again to examine it.

"What if it is typo?" Reina's mother wondered in English, her accent distorting her words. "Do typo not happen a lot?"

Reina let out a breath, speaking in Taiwanese, "Ma, _official schools don't have typos in their letters. I don't think anyone can type 'magical' but mean something else._ "

" _But this is the first school that has contacted us. We should reply and see what happens._ " Reina's father reasoned.

" _Exactly!_ " Her mother readily agreed.

Their daughter, not wanting to get on her parent's bad side in sake of filial piety, reluctantly agreed and helped them write a coherent response in English to ask for more information on Ilvermorny. The letter was mailed to the return address in the afternoon.

* * *

The next day, instead of Ilvermorny's response, a knock sounded at the front door of the Mao household. It was Mrs. Mao who answered the door, checking the eyehole before slowly opening the door to a middle-aged dark-skinned woman donned in long blue coat.

"Hallo." Mrs. Mao greeted the woman with a polite smile in her heavy accent.

"Good morning." The woman smiled cheerfully at Mrs. Mao, her voice reminiscent of a Midwest accent. "I'm Adriana Pen. I'm a representative of Ilvermorny."

At that, Mrs. Mao's stiff posture immediately relaxed and her eyes became bright. "Oh! Very good. Nice to meet you. I am Christine Mao."

"It is nice to meet you too, Mrs. Mao."

"Come in, come in." Mrs. Mao opened the door wide for Adriana to enter. As the representative entered their home, she yelled in Taiwanese excitedly, " _Yuang, Reina, come to the living room! We have a guest!_ "

Mrs. Mao ushered Adriana to sit on their plastic-covered sofa (which Reina highly despised during sweaty summer days) and spoke, "I will make tea."

"Ah, thank you." Adriana smiled at the matriarch of the household. As Mrs. Mao disappeared into the kitchen, Reina and her father entered the living room.

Mr. Mao greeted Adriana with a heavily accented "Hello" while Reina shyly, but suspiciously, nodded her head in greetings to the woman.

Adriana stood to greet the two and extended her hand to Reina's father. "Hello. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Mao."

Mr. Mao shook her hand, "Nice to meet you, nice to meet you."

Adriana looked to Reina and bent slightly to meet Reina's short height. She smiled at Reina and extended her hand to Reina as well. "And you must be Reina. I'm Adriana Pen."

Reina stared at the foreign appendage with a startled expression before hesitantly shaking her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Miss Pen."

Adriana straightened and spoke, "I'm a representative of Ilvermorny. We received your letter. You might think it's a bit weird for me to show up like this instead of just sending a letter, but it's school policy to send a staff member to explain everything to no-maj families."

Mr. Mao turned to Reina and asked in their native tongue, " _What did she just say?_ "

Reina quickly translated for her father before turning to Adriana. "Sorry, my parents don't know much English. My mom knows more English than my dad, but that's because she owns a nail shop around here."

Adriana nodded in understanding. "Of course."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Anything, dear."

"What does Ilvermorny teach exactly? I'm not sure if the letter had a typo or not, but it said that it is a magical school."

Adriana raised an eyebrow, not quite expecting Reina to be so blunt. She replied, "Oh no, that was not a typo at all. We teach students with magical capabilities to become future witches and wizards."

Reina scrutinized Adriana for a long moment, her eyes almost calculating. "I don't think I follow."

Before Adriana could respond, Mrs. Mao reentered the living room with a tray with a teapot and four cups for each of them. The matriarch announced as she set the tray down on the coffee table, "Tea is done! Sit, sit."

The family and the guest sat down at the sofa and the armchair. Reina carefully avoided sitting on the plastic-covered sofa, lest she gets uncomfortable in her summer shorts.

Adriana lightly sipped at her tea, and smiled at Mrs. Mao. "It's very good, Thank you."

Once everyone was settled, Adriana said, "This will come as a shock to you. Your daughter is a witch."

The Mao parents were silent for a long moment, letting the words sink in.

"A witch?" Mr. Mao questioned incredulously, recognizing the English word. "How?"

"We are not witches." Mrs. Mao pointed out, gesturing to herself and her husband.

"No, you're not. But, sometimes a child in a non-magical family can be born with a magical core, either through a genetic mutation or a wizard or witch in their ancestry."

Again, Reina translated for her father and explained certain words to her mother.

"Can you show us?" Mrs. Mao asked.

"Magic?"

"Yes."

Adriana nodded, and slid out her wand from her wrist holster hidden under her sleeve. She murmured a strange phrase, Latin-sounding to Reina's ears, and the teapot levitated high into the air. Adriana gently waved her wand, and the teapot lazily moved through the air, following the wand's directed path.

Mrs. Mao's jaw slackened in shock and Mr. Mao exclaimed loudly, "Wah!"

Reina watched with intrigue, looking up at the ceiling in search of any wires that suspended the teapot, but found none.

Adriana gently levitated the teapot back down onto the tray and released the spell.

Reina commented, "So that's magic…"

"Great, isn't it?" Adriana grinned.

"So, you are saying that my daughter has magic?" Mrs. Mao asked for clarification. At Adriana's nod, she wondered, "How do you know?"

"We monitor households for any accidental magic by any children. A child younger than 11 will have these small magical bursts, powered by a strong emotional stimulus. These magical bursts might be weird incidents such as levitating objects and randomly appearing objects."

Mrs. Mao slowly processed this, struggling slightly with her limited English. Reina translated again for her father, to which he smiled and commented, " _That explains that one time in the science museum when you somehow went into that space display and started playing with that model satellite…_ "

His daughter immediately blushed in embarrassment even though Adriana couldn't understand Taiwanese. "Ba!"

" _Alright, alright, I won't tease you anymore._ " Mr. Mao chuckled.

Reina asked Adriana this time, "How many more witches and wizards are there?"

"Oh, a lot. We have at least five thousand in America alone."

"So there are others in other countries?"

"Of course."

"Is Ilvermorny the only wizard school?" Mrs. Mao inquired, excited by the prospect of a whole wizarding society. Adriana's cheerful disposition faded slightly at the mention of other schools.

"Um, no. There are many other schools." Adriana began listing off, "There's Salem Witches' Institute in Massachusetts, Mahoutokoro in Japan,"

Mrs. Mao's nose scrunched slightly at the mention of Japan.

"Hogwarts in Scotland, Beauxbatons in France, and Durmstrang in Norway. Just to name a few."

"Could you tell us more about the other schools?"

"Of course. I can mail a pamphlet for each of them to you." Adriana nodded. She questioned, "Is Ilvermorny not to your liking?"

Mrs. Mao spoke in Taiwanese to Reina this time, not confident in her ability to articulate her answer. Reina translated for Adriana, "We just like to take everything into consideration first to determine the best school. We would also like a pamphlet from Ilvermorny."

"Great!"

"Also," Reina added, "Is there someplace in America where we can go to buy the books on the curriculum list?"

"Yes." Adriana replied. "Since you're in California, which has a hefty wizarding population, there's Dragon Avenue. You can access it by going to the Union Bank on Main Street and Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. Just go to the staff only restroom and twist the middle knob on the sink. The wall should open and you can get to Dragon Avenue from there."

The wizarding world might be even stranger than Reina thought.

* * *

Several pamphlets and a couple books on wizarding society and its schools lay scattered on the coffee table as Mrs. Mao and Mr. Mao scoured through them after dinner. Reina curiously read a pamphlet on Mahoutokoro.

Mrs. Mao temporarily looked up from her reading at Reina. Her gaze zeroed in on Reina's choice of reading. She snatched her reading glasses off her face to frown at Reina. " _Ai ya,_ Reina _! Why are you reading that?_ "

" _Japanese schools are known to be very good._ " Reina replied nonchalantly. " _And Miss Pen didn't send us any schools in China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan._ "

" _I won't let you go to a Japanese school._ "

Reina stared incredulously at her mother. " _Why?_ "

" _Ai ya, think about your grandparents! Your grandfather fought to protect China in the Japanese-Chinese War._ "

Reina let out a breath. Right, her mother's family originated in the Canton province in China where Japanese forces attempted to conquer during the Sino-Japanese War. Her family was still rather salty toward Japanese.

"Okay. I won't go to Mahoutokoro."

Earlier, the Mao household quickly ruled out Ilvermorny as an option, considering that the school was likely to lack the accelerated education needed to challenge Reina (to which Reina thought to herself, "How would we know if Ilvermorny will challenge me if I haven't attended a magic school before?"). In fact, Reina's parents have completely ignored all schools in the American continents.

Mr. Mao suggested, " _What about_ Beauxbatons _? Its education is very good._ "

Reina commented, " _The scenery is good too. And many students from notable families attend._ "

The Mao parents didn't seem to hear her.

"Haah?" Mrs. Mao frowned at her husband. " _Such a liberal country! We can't expose Reina to flirty French boys and unconservative French girls! Bad influence._ "

And so, Beauxbatons was crossed off the list.

"Durmstrang is too far away."

That was crossed off too.

" _What about_ Hogwarts _?_ " Mr. Mao suggested this time. Mrs. Mao looked at the pamphlet thoughtfully.

"Scotland _is the countryside, yes?_ "

" _I think so_."

Reina butted in, "Hogwarts _is away from the city. And Britain is less liberal than France. Its curriculum is more accelerated than_ Ilvermorny _too. It's comparable to_ Beauxbatons _._ "

" _We'll consider it._ "

Reina sunk back in her seat, deflating at the lack of excited response from her parents. When will they come to a decision already?

Within the week, the Mao's sent a letter to Hogwarts asking for information on its international enrollment policies and how to apply, and another letter to Adriana Pen in thanks for her help and Reina's request to maintain contact even though she will not be attending Ilvermorny.

* * *

As August came about, Reina's enrollment forms to Hogwarts have been completed and sent. Within a few days, Hogwarts sent back a letter announcing her acceptance. The Mao family excitedly crowded around the parchment with black ink written delicately upon it as Reina read aloud, skipping over less relevant information,

 _Dear Miss Mao,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted and enrolled into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

 _Term begins 1 September 2002. We look forward to your attendance._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Pomona Sprout_

 _Deputy Headmistress_

Mrs. Mao smiled and patted her daughter on her shoulder. " _I'm proud of you,_ Reina _. Now, let's look at that list._ "

* * *

The next month was all rather rushed for Reina. She and her parents went to Dragon Avenue again to purchase all required books and other supplies, which was a rather intriguing experience.

It was a somewhat cool morning when they decided to go shopping. Mr. Mao was busy for the day and had to stay home to meet a deadline to finish some articles for the editors in the _Chinese Daily News_ , so Mrs. Mao ended up taking some time off work at her nail salon to take Reina to Dragon Avenue.

When the two stepped through the bathroom wall into the alleyway leading into Dragon Avenue, the place still had yet to lose its luster to the Maos' new eyes. For the most part, Dragon Avenue looked rather modern and mundane, with the smooth concrete sidewalks and gravelly concrete road for strange-looking cars, strange-looking motorcycles, and an unusual amount of bicycles. The place was inundated with people, all with clearly diverse backgrounds and personalities.

Over half of the people, Reina guessed, were dressed in long flowing robes, the majority dark colors and a few more eccentric witches and wizards donned in brighter colors such as pastels and the occasional pink. The other hefty portion of wizarding folk were dressed in no-maj clothing, mostly casual and occasionally sloppy while others were in business casual or even business formal suits and ties.

The passerbys of Dragon Avenue were all extremely fascinating to Reina's eyes, and the mundane-born was curious as to how the wizarding society functioned not only in the Americas, but in the other continents. In particular, Wizarding Britain, given that no-maj America and no-maj Britain were already so different from each other in both colloquial language and culture.

However, that was some research Reina had to do another day, she thought as her mother pulled her hand and led her to the bookstore across the street, a relatively small unit with a sign labelling it as _Unbound Tales Bookstore_. Its exterior was rather bland, however the amount of wizards seen inside it through the clean windows said otherwise about its interior.

The second Reina and her mother entered, they were met with gentle air conditioning to battle the increasing heat outside. What they witnessed next was shocking to their eyes: the small unit was actually three stories tall and circular in shape. Where they had stepped in, they were on the second floor near the cash registers.

Taking a moment to recover from their shock, Reina and her mother observed their new surroundings with intrigue.

" _Are these the expansion charms you've told me about?_ " Mrs. Mao looked curiously to her daughter.

Reina nodded. " _I think so._ "

" _Amazing._ " Mrs. Mao had a strange gleeful glint in her eye, her interest in the Wizarding World increasing tenfold. "Now, let's go find your books."

" _Yes, ma._ " Reina nodded again before tentatively venturing further into the bookstore. She looked around for a moment, eyes slightly narrowed as she searched for any signs hanging from the ceiling, like in no-maj bookstores where they at least indicate the different book sections.

Irritatingly, there were none. How did the owner/manager of the bookstore expect people to waltz right in and know exactly where everything is? With a huff, Reina walked up to the counter where a thin, young-looking cashier in a green apron over a grey t shirt and jeans sat reading a novel- The shop owners and workers seem relatively integrated into no-maj society, with how normal they appeared, Reina thought- and cleared her throat, tiptoeing slightly to increase her height and catch his attention. The Mao, like the rest of her family- The ones hailing from Hong Kong aside- was cursed with her genetic predisposition to be short. Reina could only pray that she will grow significantly beyond her current stature of 4'9".

The cashier looked up from his novel, and immediately sent a prize-winning smile her way. "Good morning. New student, I'm guessing?"

Reina nodded in affirmation silently, her dark eyes determined.

"Great! I'm a 3rd year student at Ilvermorny, so I can definitely help you with your books. Here, I'll lead you to the section. Is this your mom?" The cashier looked behind Reina at Mrs. Mao. Mrs. Mao smiled at him politely.

"Yes." Reina replied. She added, "I'm actually not attending Ilvermorny, but I'm going to Hogwarts."

The cashier's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Hogwarts? Nice. Well, the book list is probably gonna be different for you, but I can still help."

"Thank you." Mrs. Mao thanked the cashier as he stood to leave his not-busy post.

When the brunet cashier took them down to the first floor to the textbook section, they thanked him again.

The second he left with a "Just let me know if you need any more help!" And gave them a book bag spelled with what was called a 'featherlight charm', Reina immediately dove into the shelves with intense vehemence, to which her mother looked on in mild amusement before glancing at the interesting titles on the shelves. Mrs. Mao squinted slightly at some of the titles, not recognizing several words.

It did not take long for Reina to find her books, as she methodically searched the shelves for the required material. After spending a few minutes to skim the material of each book, Reina decided that that she rather looks forward to Transfiguration and Potions. When she voiced this to her mother, her mother only smiled and said, "If you want extra books, we will have to get them in all subjects. I'll get you the second year Transfiguration and Potions books for now."

Reina, delighted, gestured at two books named _The Complete Table of Potion Ingredients and Their Properties: The Visual Edition_ and _The Principles of Transfiguration and the Science Behind It_. Mrs. Mao let Reina drop it into the book bag with faint exasperated amusement.

Several minutes of more browsing later, _Hogwarts: A History_ and _The Shark Tank: In-and-Outs of Wizarding Culture_ were added to the stack of books.

When the cashier rang up the books, the total came to 25 dragots and 9 half dragots- Which Reina calculated silently to be about $73.75 USD. Interestingly enough, there are $2.50 USD to a dragot. She wondered briefly how this could be, given the recent blow to the American economy after the terrorist attacks the year before. Wouldn't the economic depression affect the American wizarding economy, and decrease the value of the dragot? Unless, the American wizarding government and community have no relations whatsoever with the no-maj government- Unlikely since the two communities live on the same continent in the same states, in the same _cities_ \- and have their own independent trade and stock market. If it was so, Reina couldn't help but feel rather derisive of such a system. Wholly inefficient with little income (it is within her knowledge that there haven't been much significant innovative companies like Apple within the wizarding world), if she were asked.

Reina was struck out of her pondering thoughts when her mother handed her the white plastic bag full of books with the dark green logo of the store printed on its front to hold. Surprisingly, upon holding the bag while her mother neatly folded the receipt to place in her wallet, Reina realized that the bag also had a featherlight charm.

As they walked out, the cashier smiled, "Have a great day!"

"You too!" The Maos returned the pleasantry.

Their next stop only took about 10 minutes to get Reina measured for her robes- Thankfully, the middle-aged shop owner, Marie Ann, had copies of the patterns for the Hogwarts uniforms and was more than willing to help them out.

"I'm always happy to see another international student. I had one customer that last few years- She's going to Mahoutokoro- and I loved hearing her stories. She doesn't live around here anymore, so I hope I see you again when you need size readjustments next year or so!"

Marie Ann was rather chatty, and Reina, though curious about the witch's experiences in the wizarding world, couldn't help but feel a little drained by the time they paid for her new robes (which, thankfully, were spelled to be sewn together in just a few minutes so she wouldn't have a wait a week or so).

Reina made sure to get a business card, though. The total only came to 36 dragots ($90.00 USD) for the shirt, tie, skirt, trousers, protective gloves, summer robe, and winter robe compared to the 60 dragots at that pricier store further down the street.

After leaving the clothing store, they were swift in getting the pewter cauldron, crystal phials, brass scales, and telescope (Reina wished to stay in the store longer to explore, but Mrs. Mao stared at her sternly and she conceded to her mother's wishes to move on to the next store quickly).

The two stopped in front of a small storefront with two chandeliers lighting the inside with soft yellow light. Hanging above the door was a wooden sign with calligraphy carved into it- "Wolfe Wandcrafting est. 1899."

Just like that, no marketing statement to add flourish to the store's reputation. Only a title.

Reina supposed that this store must have established its reputation enough to not require any flourish. It looked nice enough, though a bit cozy.

The bell attached to the door let out a piercing tinkle into the quiet store as they entered. Glancing around, Reina observed the interior.

Shelves upon shelves of wands lined up against the ivory walls, all of the wand boxes stacked neatly atop each other from behind the locked glass display. A long wooden table stood in the center of the store on a linen-weaved rug.

Reina moved closer to the table, looking at the display cases on them with vases of pale yellow roses posed beside them neatly. In each of the display cases, intricately carved wands rested on the black velvet lining the bottom of the cases. One display case in the center of the table stood taller than the others, with one silver wand with jewel embellishments on display with a glass stand propping it up.

Behind the counter, a woman in her 40s stepped out from a room in the back, pushing aside the beaded curtain hanging for the doorway as she did so. Upon seeing her new customers, she brightened immediately.

"Hello! Welcome to Wolfe Wandcrafting. I'm Andrea Wolfe. How may I help you?" The woman, Andrea, strode over, a long black braid swishing from behind her with every step.

"Hello." Mrs. Mao smiled at Andrea. "My daughter needs a wand for Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts? Interesting. I don't see a lot of Hogwarts student's around here." Andrea smiled before turning to Reina. "Hi there! What's your name?"

"Reina Mao."

"It's nice to meet you, Reina." Andrea said. She glanced at the display base beside Reina, which the young girl had been eyeing earlier. "I see one of my mother's wands caught your eye."

"You didn't craft all of these?"

Andrea shook her head. "Of course not. I haven't been alive that long." She lightly tapped the display case, "10 inches California redwood with dragon heartstring, flexible. My mother, who founded this business, liked to experiment with different styles of crafting. This one was slightly inspired from Ollivander's crafting technique, and this was one of the last five she crafted before dragon pox hit her."

"It's beautiful." Reina complimented.

"Oh, this isn't her best wand actually. We have better ones crafted with better technique. My mother was the one and only master in America who crafted perfectly with Thunderbird tailfeather, so some of our best ones are with that core. Thankfully she taught me her techniques."

Curious, Reina inquired, "What makes the Thunderbird tailfeather so unique?"

An excited glint appeared in Andrea's eyes, "Well, the Thunderbird is a very freespirited and independent creature, so naturally the core will find its owner with a like temperament. Then, it's probably one of the cores most suited for Transfiguration. The power from Transfiguration spells casted by this core is astounding."

Reina wanted to learn more, but Andrea asked, "Now, what is your wand hand?"

Reina blinked slightly. Wand hand must refer to her dominant hand. "Um, right hand."

"Great." Andrea unlocked one of the shelved and slide open the glass to reach inside. She took out six rectangular boxes, each of them with a gold outline of a wolf howling at the moon- _How befitting_ , Reina thought- printed on the black wood of the boxes. She took them to an empty table off the the side and set them on the surface. Reina followed Andrea.

Andrea handed her a light colored wand. "Give that a swish."

Reina did so, and nothing happened. Andrea handed her another one, taking the first one back.

Reina swished this one, and the roses in the vase wilted. Another wand was handed to her.

Four wands later, there were still not good results. Andrea added more boxes to the growing pile. More were switched for another one.

Just as Reina began to visibly deflate, Andrea reassured, "It's okay. I encounter a few troublesome customers here and there. It just shows that you have high standards, and you need a wand that also has high standards."

Ten wands later, Reina found herself with a black ebony wand with a graceful, yet robust carved handle. Rolling it between her fingers, she admired the shine of the ebony before finally giving it a wave.

Silver sparks shot from the tip.

Andrea, seeing this, looked immensely pleased. "Ah, ebony with thunderbird tailfeather. 12 inches and unrelenting. I remember that my mother crafted this when I was a little girl. It's capable of powerful things, but it yielded catastrophic results every time someone came in to try it out. It's a very stubborn wand. I'm glad to finally see it find someone who matches it."

Reina looked down back at her wand, fingers tracing the carvings in the wood with intrigue.

She couldn't wait until September 1st.


	2. Year 1: Hogwarts Express

**Reina is a smol angry sass queen.**

 **I hope you enjoy this chapter! Any feedback would be much appreciated, as would any other author. I can see those hits, and a little part of me withers away when there is silence. So, please review! In fact, please review every fic you read! Support the authors!**

* * *

When September 1st came about, her parents were tied down with work. At first, they fussed about the plane tickets to get Reina to Kings Cross in London- No matter what solutions they thought of, the cost of the trip was frightening if they were to fly Reina and one of her parents overseas.

It wasn't until Miss Pen- Who they invited over for lunch one day- pointed out that she could just _Apparate_ Reina to the MACUSA headquarters, currently the only place connected to the British Floo network, and escort her to Platform 9 ¾ that way.

To say the least, the Mao family was pleased.

So, when it was 8 in the morning, her parents bid her goodbye before they left for work and made her promise to write them after she has arrived at Hogwarts.

Come 10:15, there was a knock at the front door and Reina hurried to open it, dressed in her Hogwarts uniform. "Good morning, Miss Pen!"

"Good morning!" Adriana greeted, chuckling slightly. "Are you ready to go now?"

"Of course." Reina nodded determinedly, an excited glint in her eyes. "I'll get my trunk right now."

The girl disappeared back into her house for a moment, before lugging out black trunk filled with her books- Including a few extra ones for entertainment and non-magical education (her mother insisted on her keeping up with her math and science education on top of her magical workload)- and clothes. Thankfully, Adriana casted an expansion charm on it a few days before so Reina didn't overpack her trunk with all the reading material. There was still some room left when she closed the lid.

Something soft brushed against Reina's leg, and the girl immediately set her trunk down to scoop the gray cat up into her arms, scratching her behind the ear as the cat purred. Reina murmured, " _Mei-mei, I'll see you again in winter break. Bye-bye."_

Reina set Mei-mei back down, which the cat lightly bumped her head against Reina's hand in response before trodding away to the kitchen. The girl locked the door behind her, and nodded to Adriana.

"Take my hand, hold on tightly. Apparition will probably be a bit uncomfortable for you the first time around."

Reina complied, gripping Adriana's hand with her left hand and her trunk handle in her other. In a second, her surroundings blurred, and Reina could feel an immense pressure pushing on her all around, like feeling water pushing on her when she sits at the bottom of the diving end of the swimming pool but ten times of that.

Reina equated the sensation to what she theorized how being crushed by the gravity of a black hole or neutron star would feel like, but she was sure a black hole would be exponentially worse than this.

The two reappeared with a pop in a large, spacious room with marble columns and tall glass ceilings letting gloomy light in as rain fell onto the glass with a faint pitter-patter. Reina stumbled slightly, feeling lightheaded.

"Woah there, you feeling alright?" Adriana placed a hand on Reina's shoulder to help the girl regain her balance.

Reina was silent for a few seconds, quelling her unsettled stomach with a few deep breaths. She finally nodded, "I'm fine."

"Good. Most people throw up their first time. I did."

Reina was slightly disgusted at the mention of regurgitation, and Adriana changed the subject.

"The Floo is that way. We'll have to first sign in, and there's a line. It won't take too long though, so we'll get to King's Cross on time."

Adriana led Reina to the left of the room, passing a bronze statue of a woman- A witch, Reina guessed- in long robes, Revolution-period dress, and hair proper and curled. The statue guarded the entrance to a strip of marble flooring with glass railing on either side. When Reina glanced over the railing, she saw another floor below them where there were double doors to what was partially labelled as "Supreme Court" (From Reina's angle, she couldn't quite make out the the words before it) and a few people in dark suits walked about to their unknown destinations.

Reina continued walking. At least the building was somewhat familiar to what she was used to seeing on TV and the VHS tapes her mother has recorded from Law and Order. Speaking of which, her thoughts trailed back to the Discman, Madonna album CD, Jacky Cheung album CD, and 1994 Return of the Condor Heroes soundtrack CD (Her mother would not let her take the 1983 version) she packed in her trunk.

Supposedly, according to Adriana, magical wards tended to react badly to no-maj technology especially when they are ancient wards like around Hogwarts, but Adriana said that there could be a way to get around it. She said that she managed to find a way around the wards at Ilvermorny to use her Walkman in the mid 80s, so Reina planned to work on that while at Hogwarts.

Adriana and Reina stopped at the end of a line- Not too long- in front of four desks, one for each Floo fireplace in the area behind the desks. It only took about 10 minutes for them to be called to a desk.

"Good morning, Adriana. How are you?" The man behind the desk inquired amiably, voice distinctly Midwestern.

"I'm doing great, Jack. What about you?" Adriana replied, showing him her identification card.

"The usual good, but nothing exciting happening." The man slid Adriana a sign-in sheet and pen before glancing at Reina. "Hello there."

Reina shyly nodded her head in greetings.

Adriana introduced, "That's Reina. I'm just escorting her to Hogwarts."

"That's a first. Hogwarts stealing a student from Ilvermorny."

"Yep." Adriana signed her name and the man gave her permission to pass. "It was nice seeing you again. Bye, Jack."

"See you later. Have a nice day!"

Adriana led Reina to the fireplace with a bronze number '3' nailed to the wall beside it.

"I'll go first." Adriana instructed. "You have to say your destination loud and clear after tossing in the Floo Powder, and then step right in."

"Okay," Reina nodded. She wondered how this strange form of transportation came to be, but she supposed she'll just have to research it later in the Hogwarts library.

Adriana took a handful of the powder and threw it into the fireplace. Roaring green flames lit alight, blinding Reina for a second, and Adriana yelled, "King's Cross, Platform 9 ¾!"

After Adriana stepped in, she disappeared and the flames with her.

Reina stared at the empty space for a second, startled. Taking a breath, she took the powder and threw it in as well.

"King's Cross, Platform 9 ¾!"

Squeezing her eyes tight, Reina stepped in with her trunk. Surprisingly, the flames felt like nothing.

When she opened her eyes again, she was on a crowded train platform, a red train waiting for its passengers to board while steam billowed from its front. Reina gawked at the scene, observing all the wizarding folk on the platform. All of them were in robes and outdated clothing, a stark contrast from what Reina saw at Dragon Avenue.

Some boy taller than her, donned in a green and silver tie and uniform, shoved her from behind. A posh-sounding British accented voice snapped, "Move it, firstie. You're holding up the Floo."

Oops. Reina, though irritated a little, moved out of the way for the boy to walk past. It wouldn't be very becoming if she yelled at him on the first day, plus he was much bigger than her (4'9" is a very irritating height to have) so if a fight broke out, she would be highly disadvantaged.

"Hey, Reina." Adriana came up to her from the crowd, her no-maj style clothes sticking out like a sore thumb. "What do you think?"

"It's all… New." Reina replied. "There's less diversity here, if you know what I mean."

Adriana nodded in agreement. The woman, though having been in contact with the girl for over a month, was still pleasantly surprised by her sophisticated vocabulary and ability to carefully word her sentences, where other kids her age were still rough around the edges. Adriana lowered her voice a bit for only Reina to hear, "That is true. You see, a war happened just four years ago when the dark lord at the time was trying to purge no-majes and no-maj-borns out from British society. Thankfully, he was stopped by Harry Potter. But, the British wizarding community still doesn't have many incorporated elements from no-maj culture like us, even though we abolished Rappaport's Law in 1966 when they didn't have any laws like that."

Reina nodded, following along completely though her eyes widened slightly at the mention of the war. It was mentioned briefly in the last chapter of _Hogwarts: A History_ , but Reina didn't know how exactly it impacted wizarding Britain.

"How else has the war impacted Britain? In Hogwarts, I mean."

"I can't really tell you since I haven't been in Britain a whole lot the last several years, especially since my dad is a no-maj. But, from what I've heard, there are a few kids whose parents fought on the enemy side. They aren't really well-liked by everyone else."

"Hm." Reina was thoughtful at Adriana's words. The train whistle blew, indicating that it was leaving soon.

"It's 10:45. You should get on soon."

"Right." Reina let out a breath.

"Don't forget to write me. I want to hear about your first day, and how the sorting goes. And don't hesitate to write me for any advice you want about classes or people, or if you want to rant a bit. I'll write back as soon as I can, between the classes I teach."

"I will."

"Good luck, Reina." Adriana patted Reina on her shoulder. "Go ahead."

"Bye, Miss Pen."

"Bye, Reina!"

Reina left Adriana in the crowd, waving at her just as she boarded the train behind a couple older girls avidly chatting with each other about their summer, ties a shade of red. Gryffindor, if Reina remembered correctly from _Hogwarts: A History_.

Reina, once on the train, stepped into the corridor, and began checking for any empty compartments. She had no desire to speak to anyone really, and wanted some silence to read some more of the extra Potions text now that she's finished with the first chapter of each subject.

Upon finding an empty compartment near the back, Reina placed her trunk under the seat after taking out the book and sat down beside the window, She curiously looked around the compartment. It looked simple enough, but a bit grander compared to the heavy rails back at home. The seats were red and cushioned, an rather comfortable to sit in. The window was curtained, and a table was mounted to the wall with a lamp set on it.

It looked kind of like those steam train compartments Reina once saw in a movie set in western 1800s America on TV when she was much younger and didn't know much English. Of course, it wasn't entirely like so. Etched into the wood of the seats, she found, were faded names. She was able to make out "Remus Lupin" at the seat she sat in and the "James" of another, but the other names are unreadable due to scribbled handwriting. Typical.

Reina peacefully opened her book and started reading, entranced by the words.

Fifteen minutes into the text, the peace was disturbed when the glass compartment door slid open. "Hello, can we sit with you? All the other compartments are taken."

Reina doubted it, but said "Sure. go ahead." without lifting her eyes from her book.

"Thanks." One voice replied, but another commented in surprise, "Oh, you're a Yankee!"

At that, Reina snapped her book shut after bookmarking it and glared at the owner of the voice: a boy her age with wavy golden brown hair and yellow eyes who sat down across from her. She spoke coolly, "I'm from South California, not New York."

The boy immediately looked embarrassed. "Sorry, that was a bit insensitive."

"Just a little bit," Reina accepted his apology. "Thank you."

"But it's cool you're from America. I haven't met any Americans before. I'm Stefan Selwyn, by the way."

"I'm Lex Shafiq." The other boy seated beside Stefan introduced himself. He was dark skinned, but appeared to be mixed race with almond shaped blue eyes and dark brown curly hair cropped short.

"Reina Mao. It's nice to meet you."

"Pleasure." Lex nodded.

Stefan- Reina has already picked up that he tended to be blunt and prying- questioned, "Oh, you're a muggleborn?"

The term muggle was foreign to Reina, but Lex pinched Stefan and said, "Idiot, all the pureblood names you know are British. We don't know the family names in America."

Stefan looked sheepish. "Sorry again, Reina."

"It's fine…" Reina shook her head. "What is 'muggleborn' anyways?"

"It's when a witch or wizard are born to parents with no magic, or muggles." Stefan explained.

"Ah. We call muggles 'no-majes' in America. But yes, I'm muggleborn."

"Oh." Stefan blinked in surprise. "You know, I heard that a lot of Slytherins don't really like muggleborns, so I'd be careful if I were you. Not that you'd really have anything to worry about! Professor Slughorn doesn't take kindly to racists, I've heard, and all the other houses like muggleborns."

Reina raised an eyebrow. "Thanks. But, you're talking as if I'm going to be sorted in Slytherin."

"Well, you do come across as it a bit though. But I don't think the hat will put you in Slytherin. I haven't heard of any muggleborns in Slytherin."

"As always, you're so bold Stefan." Lex sighed from beside him.

"It's to compensate for your boring personality."

"Rude. And I'm not boring!"

"You love me."

"I really don't."

During their verbal banter, Reina returned to reading. It wasn't long before her peace was taken away again.

"Blimey, is that a potions textbook?" Stefan questioned incredulously.

"No. It's a potions book I just found interesting." Reina sighed.

"Lex, I think we found another Ravenclaw!"

"Okay, first you thought she was going to be Slytherin, but now Ravenclaw? Your mind is so scattered. What's next, you'll think she's Gryffindor?" Lex rolled his eyes.

"Of course not. I just like observing people, that's all." Stefan pouted.

Lex continued, ignoring Stefan, "Besides, we don't even know if I'm going to be in Ravenclaw. My father was Slytherin, and my mother was Hufflepuff."

"Come on, you just radiate Ravenclaw." Stefan grinned. He looked back to Reina, "What house do you suppose you'll be in?"

"I haven't thought much of it. I don't really care, as long as I'm put where I can be my best."

"That's a good mindset to have." Stefan nodded.

"What about you guys?" Reina set her book back down, now interested in the conversation.

"Well, my entire family are Slytherins, so I'm probably going there. My parents don't care for other houses very much." Stefan worded carefully. Reina could tell he was omitting some information. Could it be that his family was on the enemy side of the war?

"I could be either Ravenclaw or Slytherin." Lex replied. "I don't think I'm much of a Hufflepuff at all."

"Nice. So, your families went to Hogwarts too?"

The two nodded in affirmation. Reina felt excitement bubble inside of her. It would do well to learn from these two and become friends.

"What others stuff about Hogwarts have you heard about?"

* * *

When the Hogwarts Express arrived, the sun had already set and gleaming stars hung from the sky. The students were told to leave their trunks, and they disembarked the train.

"Firs' years, to the boats! Four to a boat!"

Reina hung around Stefan and Lex, chiming into their conversation here and there about the school and its charms but her mind was elsewhere as she thought about her future at Hogwarts. She didn't put much consideration into it before, but the Houses hung in her mind. Where would she go? On temperament alone, she could go to Slytherin or Ravenclaw. Logically, she could go anywhere, but Stefan's words concerned her. If her conclusion was right, then most Slytherins were pureblood and they also came from families that fought for the dark lord. If she went to Slytherin, it would be difficult to spend seven years in that House. Not to mention, the other houses were more or less antagonistic toward Slytherins after their role in the final Battle, so Reina might suffer stones from other houses as well.

She figured Ravenclaw would be the safest House to be sorted into.

As the gears churned in Reina's mind, she, Stefan, Lex, and another girl- Meek and shy- sat in the same boat and began moving toward the castle across the large lake.

* * *

The sorting hat sang. Reina didn't know what to think of that, and she spent the entire beginning of the sorting eyeing the hat and trying to figure out what kind of charms were placed on it to give it sentience. What was it even like to be a sentient hat?

She didn't think it would be a very eventful life. She would hate it, personally. Imagine being stuck as a hat only to sort students once a year! Does it just sit in some office gathering dust every other time of the year? It would be a curse to live like that.

It only dully registered in her mind when Deputy Headmistress Sprout called, "Mao, Reina!"

Stefan nudged her when Reina didn't immediately respond, and the girl made her way to the stool, face stoic. As the large hat was set over her head, covering her eyes, a voice spoke in her mind, _Hello. My, what do we have here?_

Reina thought, _Oh, God._

The hat chuckled, _No need for the compliment. Just call me the Sorting Hat._

 _That's…_ Reina blinked in shock at the sass. _You know what, nevermind. How exactly are you sorting me?_

 _I look through your mind._

 _That's an invasion of privacy!_ Reina frowned.

 _Well, if you come up with a better, quicker way, I'm always in the Headmaster's office._

 _I didn't know sentience came with sass._

 _My sentience was made by Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Helga Hufflepuff. All parts of my personality come from them._

 _Who did you get your sass from?_

 _Slytherin, naturally._

 _Wonderful._ Reina marked this information down for later. It was interesting.

 _You're highly intelligent and clever, I see. Ravenclaw is a possibility. Curious, and always seeking knowledge. You're brave in that regard; you don't care if anyone stands in your way. That's a bit of a Gryffindor streak._

Huh.

 _But, you are also very ambitious and cunning. Slytherin would be a good house._

Reina's eyes narrowed. She should divert its attention quickly.

 _Not a single Hufflepuff trait?_

 _Well, you do have a sense of loyalty._

 _Only a sense of loyalty?_

 _I'm afraid so. You aren't very Hufflepuff at all, and you are a bit disconnected from people._

Reina bristled. _Are you insulting my lack of social skills?_

 _Sharp girl._

 _You-_

 _But don't think I caught what you were doing just now! That was a sly move you pulled there!_

 _But-_

 _Better be-_

 _WHAT ABOUT RAVENCLAW?_

The hat grimaced at the volume of Reina's thoughts. _Do you mind?_

 _I'm sorry, but I am not going into a snake pit without a fight. I'm a no-maj-born!_

 _It is the house that fits you best._

 _So? Give me a good reason why I should go there and not Ravenclaw._

A quiet murmur came from the students as an inordinate amount of time passed.

Professor Sprout stared curiously at Reina, while Headmistress McGonagall seemed mildy intrigued. It wasn't the first time this has happened.

The hat sighed. _Not only do I look into your mind, but I am able to see parts of your future if you were to be sorted in any house._

 _Really? Can you tell me my future?_

 _No. I don't see the entirety of your future, so I don't even have enough information to tell you._

 _That's unfortunate._

 _To answer your question, I foresee that Slytherin is the House that will most benefit you. You may encounter difficulties, but you will be most successful there._

 _Okay._

 _You don't have any more objections?_

 _Nope. Go ahead._

 _Better be…_

"Slytherin!"

Reina stood in relief, taking off the Hat and placing it on the stool before taking her seat at the Slytherin table, which clapped politely, while donned in the green and silver of her new House. The other tables were completely silent, contrasting to how everyone clapped for the other houses.

As she sat down beside the other first years, three girls and two boys, Reina turned her attention back to the sorting.

Right after Reina, Professor Sprout called, "Opare, Dhakira!"

The Hat screamed, "Slytherin!" two seconds after settling on her head. The girl confidently sat across from Reina as the Slytherin table applauded.

"Roman, Ana!" The meek brunet girl from the boat was sorted into Hufflepuff.

When Stefan was called, he was soon to be sorted into Slytherin. He sat beside Reina and smiled at her. Reina smiled back.

"Shafiq, Alexander!" Unsurprisingly, Lex was sorted into Ravenclaw. He sat between a redhead girl and a glasses-wearing boy with ash blond hair.

When the sorting came to a close, Headmistress McGonagall came to the podium and spoke, "Welcome to Hogwarts, everyone…"

Reina didn't pay much attention to the speech, only keeping an ear out for regulations she had to watch out for. When the speech finished and food appeared, she reached for the food immediately.

"Mao, right?" The girl beside Reina, a bit arrogant looking, asked.

"Yes. What's your name?"

"It's Jewel Fawley."

Reina, picking up on the girl's usage of her last name, replied, "It's nice to meet you, Fawley."

"You as well." Fawley nodded, scooping some mashed potatoes onto her plate. "Say, I haven't heard of the last name Mao before. It's not listed as a pureblood name, is it?"

Stefan immediate choked on a piece of the chicken leg he was cutting apart with a fork and knife, and started coughing.

Reina's smiled became cold. "Your registry is British, isn't it? I'm from America, so of course it would be hardpressed to find it in the British pureblood registry."

"Of course, I didn't realize." Fawley flushed slightly, buying Reina's words.

Stefan mouthed, _Smooth._

Reina smirked against the rim of the goblet filled with pumpkin juice she sipped from.

* * *

Things went downhill when it grew close to curfew and the girls were getting settled in their dormitory. Only four of them were in the dorms at the moment, as one of them had left to wash up for the night.

As Reina sat on her bed in her navy blue pajama pants and large, loose gray shirt, she neatly folded all of her clothes. She separated each pile into winter clothes and fall/spring clothes (Scotland wasn't anywhere as hot as California, if Reina guessed right) before placing them in the drawers beside her bed. She then stacked her books beside the lamp on top of the drawers, taking out the ones she would need for tomorrow and putting them in the cloth messenger bag filled with notebooks and folders per subject. Of course, she had parchment too but Reina was not planning on taking her notes on that. She honestly found herself exasperated with being forced to use quills and ink. Normally, her handwriting wasn't half bad, but the quill just highlighted the scratchiness of her handwriting every time she tried practicing it at home.

That was why she brought a couple fountain pens, ballpoint pens, and mechanical pencils with erasers along with the quill. No one had to know when she used fountain pens to write her homework instead of quills.

While Reina unpacked, one of the girls, who sat at the bed across from her, turned up her nose at the very no-maj clothes and messenger bag Reina took out.

The girl, who Reina found more irritating than the nosy Fawley, spoke, "You know, I have read the American registry of pureblood families once. My father was a Ministry worker, you know, and he dealt with business between the Ministry and MACUSA."

Reina turned to face the girl- Kimberly Rowle if she remembered correctly- and raised an eyebrow. "And your point is?"

"The last name Mao is nowhere on the registry."

"Is that so?"

"So, not only are you a Yankee, but you are a mudblood Yankee."

A what-blood? Reina frowned at the foreign term. It must be some derogatory form of muggleborn. She corrected, "I'm Californian."

"Same difference."

Reina barely contained a sneer, and asked, "When did you read this registry?"

"Five years ago."

So, before the war ended, Reina noted. Rowle also mentioned that her father _was_ a Ministry worker. Reina was sure it implied her father was affiliated with the enemy and lost his position. Which also meant her father doesn't have access to Ministry records.

Reina's voice was dripping in innocent sweetness as she struck, "But I thought you said your father used to be a Ministry worker. Do you still have access to that registry? I didn't think that would be public, especially since a MACUSA record and not a Ministry record."

"I- You-" Rowle turned an ugly shade of purple.

Reina didn't know people can turn that color from anger.

"And that was five years ago, wasn't it?" Reina continued. "I'm sure that there are more than five or ten pureblood families. Weren't you something like five? That's kind of impressive for you to remember the whole list. That's some great eidetic memory right there."

"You- You're trying to lie about your blood!" Rowle hissed. "You liar!"

Reina widened her eyes purposefully, still feigning innocence, "Lying? Me? I haven't said anything! I was just trying to see if what you said is true."

"How dare you, mudblood?"

"But it's been so long; how can you be so sure that I'm a mudblood? You don't have any concrete proof."

"You-" Rowle shrieked, suddenly pulling out her wand. "I'll hex you!"

Reina felt herself pale, but didn't show any expression. If it came down to magic and duelling, she really had no idea how quite yet beyond what she's read in the textbooks. She hasn't had the chance to use her wand yet, with the underage magic restriction in place in both the Ministry and the MACUSA.

"Lay off it, Rowle." Fawley snapped, standing finally from where she was sitting silently. "We really don't have any proof against her."

"Yes, Rowle." The other girl, Elizabeth Burke, nodded. "Just calm down. Besides we can't hex her anyways when Slughorn can hear about it."

Reina had a strong feeling that she won't exactly be making any of these girls her friends any time soon.


End file.
